2014 William Knuttel Pinot Noir Windsor Oak Vineyards Russian River Valley 750 ml

Master Winemaking, Premium Plot

If you’re like us, eyeing your Russian River Pinot Noir bottles in the cellar, debating which ones to start drinking this coming holiday season, you probably do as we often do: Check Robert Parker’s vintage reports. The 2014 North Coast vintage for Pinot landed on 94 points, qualifying as “outstanding” and “ready to drink.” That’s the good news.

The icing on today’s missive is the 2014 release of the incredible Burgundian-style William Knuttel Pinot Noir from Windsor Oak Vineyards in the Russian River Valley—all elegant, supple red-fruit-threaded with a tempting dash of spice.

William Knuttel is what we’d call a framer of California winemaking. After all, he put Saintsbury on the map in the 1980s and 1990s and later became the winemaker and vice president at Chalk Hill Estate, which is where he got hooked on Windsor Oak fruit.

The vineyard showcases vibrant hillside plantings on well-drained, gravelly, clay-loam soils with nothing but open exposure to brisk Russian River Valley breezes. Russian River is one of the most renowned cooler climate spots for collector-worthy American Pinot Noir, and the 2014s are strutting their stuff now.

Knuttle has always taken a page right out of the playbook of classic Burgundy winemaker, with whole-berry vinification and aging 21 months in François Frères French oak barrels, of which 40 percent are new, contributing beautiful spice notes, that are masterfully integrated.

If you love attentive winemaking at it’s finest from a single vineyard in an ultra-premium growing region, this wine is for you. You could get it by booking a private estate tasting with the tight-knit William Knuttel team, or, get it in time to help celebrate the holiday season.